RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Fairfax County >> Westwood Park >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Westwood Park, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Westwood Park and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Westwood Park:
    • 38.884278, -77.200259
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Westwood Park
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Fairfax County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
    • Since Westwood Park is near Falls Church City and also Arlington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Falls Church City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Arlington County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Westwood Park

Communities Also Named Westwood Park ...

We found six communities that are also named Westwood Park.

Within Virginia, the name Westwood Park is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of six communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Connecticut
      • New London County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Connecticut community of Westwood Park [New London County].
    • Louisiana
      • Caddo Parish
      • This Westwood Park is located in Caddo Parish and lies 1,030 miles [1,657.6 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Westwood Park that is located in Fairfax County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Caddo Parish community of Westwood Park.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Delaware County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Westwood Park [Delaware County].
    • Texas
      • Dallas County
      • This Westwood Park is located in Dallas County and lies 1,178 miles [1,895.8 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Westwood Park that is located in Fairfax County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dallas County community of Westwood Park.
      • Harris County
      • This Westwood Park is located in Harris County and lies 1,216 miles [1,957 km] to the west southwest of the Westwood Park that is located in Fairfax County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harris County community of Westwood Park.
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Westwood Park is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,832 miles [2,948.3 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Westwood Park that is located in Fairfax County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Westwood Park.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Westwood Park ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Alpine
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Alpine is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
  • Camelot
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Camelot is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Chestnut Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Crescent Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Crescent Hills is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Hills
  • Dominion Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Dominion Hills is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dominion Hills
  • Enola
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Enola is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enola
  • Falls Church
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Falls Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Falls Hill is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Hill
  • Foxhall
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Foxhall is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxhall
  • Franklin
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Franklin is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
  • Garden City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Garden City is located in Arlington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
  • Greenway Downs
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Greenway Downs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Downs
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Halls Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Halls Hill is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Hill
    • Howard
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Howard is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard
    • Kent Gardens
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Kent Gardens is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Gardens
    • Lacey Forest
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Lacey Forest is located in Arlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey Forest
    • Pine Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Pine Ridge is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
    • Pine Spring
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Pine Spring is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Spring
    • Pleasant Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Pleasant Ridge is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
    • Poplar Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Poplar Heights is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Heights
    • Ravenwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Ravenwood is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenwood
    • Seven Corners
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Sleepy Hollow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Sleepy Hollow is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
    • Valley Brook
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Valley Brook is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Brook
    • Virginia Forest
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Virginia Forest is located in Falls Church City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Forest
    • Walters Woods
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Walters Woods is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walters Woods

How Far From Westwood Park to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Westwood Park to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Westwood Park and extending to:

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 93 miles [149.7 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Westwood Park to Richmond, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is just to the east (E).
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,905 miles [9,503.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,610 miles [10,637.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,487 miles [7,221.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Westwood Park could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Westwood Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<5>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Westwood Park to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Westwood Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8843, Longitude: -77.2003       In this case, the coordinates for Westwood Park have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.987 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.547 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.788 degrees.